Biology, Seventh Edition Solomon • Berg • Martin

Chapter 20

The Origin and

Evolutionary History
of Life
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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Conditions on early Earth

• Age of Earth is ~4.6 billion years
• Atmosphere had little free O2
–Included CO2, H2O, CO, H2, N2
–Maybe also NH3, H2S, CH4

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Requirements for chemical

evolution to produce life
• Absence of oxygen
• Energy
• Chemical building blocks
• Sufficient time

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Prebiotic soup hypothesis

• Molecules formed near the
Earth’s surface
• Sugars, nucleotides, amino acids
formed spontaneously

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

Miller-Urey
experiment

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Iron-sulfur world hypothesis

• Organic molecules formed at
hydrothermal vents on the ocean
floor
• Laboratory simulations show
catalyst effects of iron and nickel
sulfides

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Origin of cells
• Spontaneous assembly of small
organic molecules into
macromolecules
• Protobionts similar to cells
–Binary fission
–Homeostasis
–Catalytic activity

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

Microspheres – a type of protobiont

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Microspheres
• Formed from water and
polypeptides
• Electric gradient on surface
• Selective permeability

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• RNA world
• Self-replicating RNA molecules
• Function as both enzyme and
substrate for replication
–Ribozyme is enzymatic RNA
• First step in evolution of the
DNA / RNA / protein system

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Directed evolution
• Large pool of RNA molecules
with different sequences
• Selected for ability to catalyze a
reaction
• Amplify / mutate / repeat

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

Directed evolution

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• In the RNA world, ribozymes

catalyzed protein synthesis
• DNA formed from double
strands of RNA
• DNA more stable than RNA

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• The first cells

• Heterotrophs that feed on organic
molecules
• Anaerobic fermentation process
to obtain energy

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Autotrophs
• Selected after organic molecule
food stock became scarce
• Photosynthetic production of
organic molecules
• Cyanobacteria split water
molecules and released oxygen

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Aerobes
• More efficient energy production
using oxygen respiration
• Significant oxygen in the
atmosphere by 2 bya

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Formation of the ozone layer

• Ultraviolet radiation forms O3 from
O2 in the upper atmosphere
• Prevents UV from reaching Earth
• Decreased mutagenesis
• Enabled organisms to live in
surface waters and on land

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

Ozone
formation

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Eukaryotes arose from

prokaryotes
• Endosymbiont theory
–Mitochondria and chloroplasts
derived from prokaryotes
–Ingested but not digested
–Reproduced along with host cell

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

Endosymbiont
theory

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Geological eras
• Paleozoic
–543 mya - 251 mya
• Mesozoic
–251 mya - 65 mya
• Cenozoic
–65 mya - present

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

Using a clock to
represent
biological time

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Precambrian time
• Before 543 mya
• Bacteria
• Protists
• Fungi
• Simple multicellular animals

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Cambrian explosion
• All animal phyla established
• Many new body plans
• Bizarre, extinct phyla

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Ordovician period
• Shallow seas covered land
• Cephalopods
• Coral reefs
• Jawless fishes

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Silurian period
• Jawed fishes
• Terrestrial plants
• Air-breathing animals

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Devonian period
• Bony fishes
• Amphibians
• Wingless insects
• All major plant groups except for
flowering plants established

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Carboniferous period
• Swamp forests
• Reptiles
• Winged insects

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

Carboniferous forest

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Permian period
• Therapsids
–Reptilian ancestors of mammals
• Seed plants dominant
• Ended the Paleozoic with the
greatest mass extinction
–90% of marine species
–70% of land vertebrates

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

Mesozoic Era

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Triassic period
• Thecodonts
–Ancestors of dinosaurs and birds
• Pleiosaurs and ichthyosaurs
• Pterodonts
• First mammals
–Small insectivores

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Jurassic and Cretaceous

periods
• Saurischians
–Ancestors of lizards
• Ornithischians
–Ancestors of birds
• Ended with mass extinction
caused by a meteorite impact

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

Saurischians

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

Ornithischians

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

Cenozoic Era

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Biology, Seventh Edition CHAPTER 20 The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

• Tertiary period
• Diversification of flowering plants,
birds, insects, mammals
• Quaternary period
• Genus Homo
• Large mammals

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